Since around 1600, limpid has been used in English to describe things that have the soft clearness of pure water. The aquatic connection is not incidental; language scholars believe that limpid probably traces to lympha, a Latin word meaning "water." That same Latin root is also the source of the word lymph, the English name for the pale liquid that helps maintain the body's fluid balance and that removes bacteria from tissues.
the limpid waters of the stream her eyes are the blue of a limpid stream of water
Recent Examples on the WebCirce mines deep satisfaction from cultivating elemental herbs, swimming in limpid bays, shaping the raw energy of the place to her magical ends. Maria Shollenbarger, Travel + Leisure, 20 June 2022 Several of the sequences set in the military hospital offer camera moves that are as limpid and thrilling as a dance. Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 31 May 2022 Rivera depicts Natasha as a limpid flower, surrounded with armfuls of gargantuan calla lilies.oregonlive, 12 Mar. 2022 Frankenthaler’s soak-and-stain painting technique achieved dreamy, limpid colors. Brian T. Allen, National Review, 10 Feb. 2022 In places, workers dug beneath the water table, and some chambers now contain limpid pools of pure, crystalline water. Nick Squires, The Christian Science Monitor, 4 Jan. 2022 Still, Hough, whose reading is nearly two minutes shorter, wins me over with his liquid, limpid articulation. Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 24 Jan. 2022 This limpid air is not everyone’s idea of marvelous.Los Angeles Times, 18 Jan. 2022 In such contexts, Rousseau’s limpid, richly colored pictures of innocent subjects — jungles, big cats, the moon — can come as a relief.Washington Post, 5 Jan. 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
French or Latin; French limpide, from Latin limpidus, perhaps from lympha water — more at lymph